Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is ready to sign a ministerial edict, which will mean that an individual found in possession of more than one methamphetamine tablet will be treated as a drug trafficker, instead of an addict.

Once the edict is signed, it will be sent to the cabinet for approval and then published in the Royal Gazette prior to enforcement.

Anutin said that the reduction in the amount of meth tablets in the possession of an individual, from 15 or more to two or more, to be regarded as a trafficking offense has been discussed extensively among the agencies concerned.

Regarding the argument that the lower limit may result in the overcrowding of prisons, the public health minister said that such concerns are irrelevant, noting that the law must be made tougher to deal with the problem.

Nonetheless, he said the Ministry must find more money for the rehabilitation of drug addicts.

Under the current narcotics law, possession of more than 15 methamphetamine pills is regarded as possession with intent to traffic and the penalties range from four years to life imprisonment and/or a fine from 400,000 to 5,000,000 baht.

Those who possess fewer than 15 tablets are currently regarded as “patients”, and will be sent for rehabilitation.